Nintendo 3DS to include 3D camera?

Sharp has announced the world's first 3D camera designed with mobiles and smaller devices in mind, leading to internet murmurs that Nintendo's planned 3DS handheld may well include a 3D camera.

Sharp is saying that its 3D camera is capable of shooting 720p 3D footage and that mass production will begin this year. It says the idea behind the camera was "embedding this camera module in mobile devices such as digital cameras, mobile phones, and smartphones". No mention of the 3DS there then.

But hold on, because Gizmodo is reporting that the 3DS is purportedly going to be using Sharp's glasses-less parallax barrier technology. This is where the rumour-machine kicks in, you see. If Sharp is already in cahoots with Nintendo over the 3DS, then surely it makes sense that a 3D camera designed with mobility as a key feature may well be included in the handheld gaming machine.

No official word from either of the Japanese outfits as of yet, but we'll keep our ears to the ground and do our darnedest to find out. Even if it turns out to be total and utter speculation then at least we can console ourselves with the fact that 3D cameras will be coming to mobile phones sometime soon.